How high will you pay for a bale of hay

[SatinsRule]

The feed stores up here don't sell hay, if we want hay we go to the source. If we want cubes we go to the feed store.

We're not as agriculturally minded and geared as we used to be down here. The feed stores carry it because most of the time, a customer would have to drive a significant distance to get it in smaller quantities, and they requested that the feed dealer start carrying it. Most dealers do so, and perhaps not too oddly enough, they get the lion's share of the business as a result of doing so.

 

[MKirst]

I'm a farmer and sell my best dry 1 day cuttings at these prices.

Hay 4x2 bales @ 3.50
Hay 4x4 bales @ 4.50
1.6 ton round bale @ 65.00
Straw 4x2 bales @ 3.00
Straw 4x4 bales @ 4.00
1.6 ton round bale @ 55.00
Alfalfa 4x2 bales @ 4.50
Alfalfa 4x4 bales @ 6.50
1.6 ton round bale @ 112.00

My Alfalfa I have priced high because I know it's one of the best around and rich - my horses only eat 2 leafs a day if that.

If not the above 1 day cutting and depending on how long cuttings sit in the field, get rained on, etc .. I sell at auction and usually people bid 2.00 for a bale of hay on 56 bale lot.

What I should do like some of the other farmers is load a 18 ton trailer with bales and sell out west because of their drought. But, I prefer to stay local.

 

[BlueLove16]

Ive been getting free bales, alfalfa/timothy/grass since family has land. Tueres a small acre hay field literally in my back yard thats not harvested anymore, i plan to go out and gather up some, mostly brome, but better than nothing. Think a 50lbs brome is going gor 7$, timothy 10$ and alfalfa i havnt looked. Feed price went up 3$ for purina in the last month. So 19$ a 50# for show formula. Blah. Cheaper than horse feed though! Seniors at 25$! Even cracked corn is 15$ now

 

[skysthelimit]

One feed store carried it here, but lost there supplier. 45 minutes and a herding lesson to get it, or none at all. Some guy is advertising on CL to deliver it for $7.50.

 

[BlueLove16]

cost of veggies will go up too...every bean and corn field is so burnt up. went to check a few stocks and they'll be super lucky to get a quarter of the crop that matured. Be nice with a small rabbitry devoting some land to some brome mix to rake when matured...im even more enthusiastic about self-sufficient living now. hopefully we have a bad winter to get a good summer

 

[scottdigital]

Just a thought: Be careful of cheap hay this year. It may be old and the longer it sits the less nutrition it has. If it has been rained on it may be dusty or moldy. And we all know that dust and mold are very harmful.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

To my undying frustration I'm barely feeding hay right now...my usual supplier is totally sold out, and I can't find really decent hay anywhere else. I won't buy crappy, dusty-looking mouldy hay. I also won't buy hay that looks like straw. :evil:

 

[scottdigital]

Well If you were closer I would give you hay. I have plenty of nice soft alfalfa mix hay here.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

...dang. XD!!!<br /><br />__________ Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:24 pm __________<br /><br />Oh man, had to buy hay today...I had no choice, the last flake was consumed a day or two ago...and oh man, pricey pricey! Talk about some seriously costly hay! On the upside, the seller was patient with me...they have huge "condensed" bales and since I can only fit one in my car right now (all my grooming crap is in there, LOL) I got all picky and climbed all over until I found THE PERFECT BALE...has lots of good-looking clover-y weeds in it, nice and leafy green, and don't laugh but I smelled them all and that one smelled like REAL HAY, makes me happy.

BUT STILL, it was crazy expensive!!! Gone are the days where I was paying $3 a bale!!! :evil:

But alas, I have Angoras, I don't dare cut hay out of their diet unless I want 'em dead from wool block in short order.

I thought of this thread while I jammed the bale into my car...because yeah, I'll pay any price to get hay for my buns but...HOLY COW. Not cool!!!

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

what price did you pay for the bale.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

It was like $14. Craziness!!!!

 

[Joe n TN]

I hear you man. They want $14 for 50lb half sqare bale here. Ouch!

Joe

 

[BlueLove16]

Ouch!! I told hubby we needa buy the acre hay field behind us..cheap and low taxes, would pay for itself eventually

 

[wsmoak]

Ow... I was paying $12.50 and just paid $14.00 for timothy/alfalfa today. And these are not heavy bales, the guy helping me load was carrying one in each hand.

Once it dries out a little more I'll till the part of the garden I am not using for winter vegetables, and sow half a bag of whole oats. Nothing special, just racehorse oats from the feed store. Last winter I had a moldy bag and tossed it out on a whim -- it grew great and I just went out with scissors and harvested plenty for the rabbits and chickens, plus a treat for the horse now and then. Of course, we had a very mild winter last year, so it might not work this time, but we'll see!

-Wendy

 

[3mina]

Hay here is going for an average of $35 for a thousand pound round bale, 2012 cut

 

[Dreamerz]

Have any of you checked the for sale section / farm+garden of your local craigs list ?
I can find 40# rec. bales of timothy/grass mix for $2-$4 or $4-$6 Alf. mix each in my area there.
If I go to the feed store it is $7 timothy or $14 Alf.

Jane

 

[Bad Habit]

I can get lovely hay, 2nd or 3rd cutting grass/timothy mix from a fellow vendor at the market all year round. 4$ for a square bale, but I have to go pick it up myself. I bought 2 bales a couple weeks ago, and it smelled sooooooo good. She's only about a 10 min drive out, and my mum takes me... Plus I get to pet all her adorable little lambs and thank them for donating their bones to help feed my dog(she sells me 5lbs of lamb bones for 2$ so I can boil them to make stock for the dog).

However, on Kijiji the other day, I saw someone selling bales of hay specifically for rabbits at 20$!!! I just about died. He also had smaller parcels available, too, but even the smallest "bag" of hay was more than I paid for my bales.

 

[skysthelimit]

There's a guy an hour from here, advertizing free hay, catch--it's still in the field, you gotta cut it and bale it yourself.

 

[3mina]

Sky, there's always a catch isn't there

 

[Piper]

There's a guy and hour from here, advertizing free hay, catch--it's still in the field, you gotta cut it and bale it yourself.

Wish I was in Ohio, I could use some practice!